Murkowski calls suspended leases in Alaska’s Coastal Plain area unlawful

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined her Alaskan GOP colleagues and the state’s Republican governor in criticizing the Biden Administration’s suspension of leases in the Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as contrary to federal law.

The U.S. Department of the Interior on June 1 suspended all oil and gas leases for portions of the non-wilderness Coastal Plain (1002 Area) of the ANWR pending completion of a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. The oil and gas leases were issued in January pursuant to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which authorized responsible energy development in ANWR.

“The Biden administration’s actions are not unexpected but are outrageous nonetheless,” Sen. Murkowski said on June 2. “Suspending leases in Alaska’s 1002 Area is in direct conflict with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, through which Congress mandates an oil and gas leasing program be established on the non-wilderness Coastal Plain, and ordered at least two lease sales by 2024.”

In 1980, Congress designated more than eight million acres within ANWR — which spans 19.3 million acres in northeast Alaska — as federal wilderness under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the same legislation that set aside the 1.57-million acre Coastal Plain for petroleum exploration and potential future development.

“The act specifically states that the purpose of the 1002 area of ANWR is oil and gas development,” said Sen. Murkowski. “The oil and gas leasing program established by the Trump administration meets the legal mandates required by Congress including imposing a framework with a range of environmental safeguards that are successfully guiding production elsewhere in northern Alaska.”

The senator added that the Biden administration’s current action “serves no purpose other than to obstruct Alaska’s economy and put our energy security at great risk.”

“Alaskans are committed to developing our resources responsibly and have demonstrated our ability to do so safely to the world,” Sen. Murkowski said.

Separate comments submitted by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK), and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) were included with Sen. Murkowski’s comments in a joint statement released on June 2.